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By Timothy C. Mabe, CFE, CMP, CMM
Every day thousands of public
assembly facilities around the world open their doors to serve millions
of patrons attending a variety of events. When most of these people
enter a public facility, they’re usually unaware of the multitude of
decisions and preparations that have been made before and during these
events to ensure an enjoyable and safe experience. Public facility
managers make these decisions and direct the preparations that range
from ordinary maintenance issues to more critical issues as necessary.
Today the best venues are those that are efficient,
market- driven, customer-service focused, and managed by a highly
skilled public facility professional. I’ve taken great pride in my role
as both manager and steward of these important regional assets over the
years. The intent of this two-part article is to express a philosophy of
public assembly facility management that I call PAFM2 (public assembly
facility management squared), and to show how the philosophy may be
applied to a few of the challenges I’ve addressed that the PAFM in the
21st century is sure to face.
Core Doctrines
Perhaps the most central and guiding principle of public assembly
facility management is to always use common sense and best practices.
Use this core doctrine in leading your team to achieve the facility’s
mission objectives efficiently — but without compromise to quality
presentation, service and safety — and to deliver the most favorable
bottom line possible.
When public funds are used, the needs of the citizens
should be addressed. In all cases, the usage should be maximized while
maintaining a high-quality image with the commitment to excellent
service a top priority. If this sounds easy, it’s not. PAFM2 refers to
the philosophy that a public assembly facility manager (the PAFM) must
contemporaneously use an exponential number of skills to be successful.
Public assembly facilities are complex organizations
and extremely management intensive. The actions, or lack of, taken by
the PAFM can have a more profound effect on the performance and image of
a public facility than any other factor. Success starts at the top of
any organization, and the PAFM is the facility’s team leader. Leadership
and management are both essential yet separate disciplines. A PAFM can
only be successful in managing a facility when both of these disciplines
are practiced properly and simultaneously in collaborative harmony
focused on these four key points: mission driven, values-centered,
fiscally diligent and customer responsive.
The successful PAFM must be an effective communicator
who understands the importance of relationships. The PAFM must exemplify
integrity and be a creative promoter, an entrepreneur, a diplomat, an
active supporter of the community and flexible, and must continually
seek ways to develop the absolute best organization that it can be. Some
of these skills can be learned; some cannot. In fact, some of the
necessary traits must either be an inherent part of the individual’s own
personal makeup or be developed.
Our profession is continually changing. The PAFM must
be dedicated to ongoing professional development and continually strive
to learn and improve the craft.
Industry
History and Background
Before the first century A.D., archaeological records confirm that all
types of public assembly facilities were used as effective tools to
benefit the communities that supported them. Today, public facilities
have evolved into tremendous economic generators that add to the quality
of life of residents.
Try to imagine a world without these venues. There
would be no setting for sporting events such as football, soccer or
basketball. Those attending conventions and conferences would have to
meet in schools, churches or possibly even outdoors for very large
groups. There would be no theaters for Broadway shows or
 productions.
Graduation ceremonies would have to be held in the school gym or
outdoors. Clearly, our quality of life would be adversely affected
without the facilities we manage.
Benefits of Our Profession
Public assembly facilities generate essential monetary support to area
businesses each year, bringing in billions of new visitors’ dollars with
a resulting multiplier of economic activity. These facilities help
motivate businesses and individuals to locate to the area creating new
jobs, adding tax revenues and boosting commercial activity.
Public facilities can also enhance the image of the
communities that house them, and many become a source of great pride to
local residents. Our profession serves in the vital role of being the
public’s curator of these valuable community assets. We make sure that
usage is maximized, facilities are used for the intent that they were
built, and patrons are provided a high-quality experience.
We ensure comfort and safety, and that the facility
meets the community’s social, educational and economic development needs
to justify the public funds that operate them. We’re also responsible
for establishing what the public will see and what will be denied. We’re
accountable for minimizing or even eliminating any subsidy needed for
these facilities to operate. The primary purpose of our profession
remains constant: providing service to the public. Using these
principles, the service delivered can and will exceed expectations.
As you can see, the service we provide is extremely
important in numerous ways to society. Unfortunately, there are those
who don’t always see our facilities or our profession in a positive
light, as we’re criticized by some for the operation of so-called “white
elephants” whose subsidies are drains on the community. This is far from
truth.
Those who share this view are usually misinformed or
have an agenda that’s inconsistent with the mission of public
facilities. The truth is that our profession has a great story to tell.
A goal of every PAFM should be to change these perceptions by more
actively communicating that story with public officials and the media
about the value our profession and public facilities provide to society.
Challenge: Personnel and Labor Relations
Personnel and labor relations can be defined as the interface process
that goes on between management and workers on a continuing basis. The
successful PAFM must not only understand the principles involved with
this process, but must also possess an acute sensitivity to the needs of
workers.
Case in point: A study was done that compared the
differences between 56 unionized companies.
Half had experienced strikes and the other 28 companies had no strikes.
Management in the companies that experienced strikes made no effort to
resolve employee problems before they blossomed into formal grievances
that were difficult to settle. In contrast, the management at the
“non-strike” companies all made good faith efforts to mitigate their
employees’ grievances.
The study further concluded that the strikes had little
to do with money or benefits. The workers chose to strike mainly because
they had become frustrated when their needs, wants and ideas went
unheard, unheeded or unanswered. The companies that avoided the strikes
established a quality of trust with employees through demonstration of
the management’s willingness to listen and their good intention to
attempt to reasonably resolve the employees’ issues and address their
needs.
This study is a prime example of demonstrating that
managing successful personnel and labor relations rely heavily on the
willingness and ability of management to practice effective
communication and make it a priority to maintain quality
employer/employee relations through developing mutual trust and respect.
PAFMs must go well beyond placing emphasis on
quantifiable factors such as labor costs when managing human resources.
Precedence should also be given to building a team that’s aligned with
the same vision and all working in harmony toward the same goals.
Nothing is more important in a facility than the talent that’s recruited
and hired. Therefore, it’s a key responsibility of the PAFM to retain
and develop this prized asset to its fullest potential.
The pinnacle of successful application of these
practices is the creation of a culture in the workplace based on the
staff’s common commitment to the organization’s core values. Walt Disney
is a prime example of a leader who was successful in this endeavor.
These frequently quoted words identify his priority plainly. “You can
dream, create, design and build the most wonderful places in the world …
but it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
Challenge: Effective Marketing
Relying on the Field of Dreams philosophy of “…build it and they will
come” in regards to facility marketing is certain to bring very
disappointing results. To be successful, it’s essential that the PAFM
develop a well thought out and orchest rated
strategic marketing plan into the organization’s overall business plan
to be effective in today’s competitive environment. Competent
preparation is the fundamental key.
The marketing plan must establish the venue’s market
position. Certain processes must be used to soberly evaluate strengths
and weaknesses. Many questions must be answered. Who is the competition?
What are the capabilities of the facility, unique characteristics, and
how does it fit into the market? The market must be defined. Research
must be done to determine the facility’s niche. Target markets can then
be identified and analyzed. Information is power.
The minutia acquired from a complete market analysis
allows benchmarks and objectives describing the desirable end results to
be established. Conceptual strategies and a budget can then be prepared
describing what paths to follow and the specifics needed to accomplish
the plan’s objectives. The plan is then implemented with the PAFM
continually monitoring the results and adjusting as needed.
Sales and marketing plans are very complex, consisting
of many components including advertising, sales, promotions, public
relations, image awareness and the development of relationships and
partnerships. The foundation of any successful public facility
initiative is based on those relationships and partnerships.
Challenge: Financial and Contract Management
Finance is one of the key gauges the PAFM uses to drive decisions and
obtain results. Managing finance is a process of planning, organizing,
directing, controlling, and analyzing all the factors that affect the
facility’s financial performance. Similar to creating the marketing plan
mentioned in the previous topic, the PAFM must also develop a financial
plan.
The major tool in planning and organizing this plan is the
budget. It’s the basis of the financial plan and acts as the road map of
the facility’s overall business plan’s direction over a specific fiscal
timeframe. An optimum way to improve bottom line is to control costs.
The PAFM controls costs by continually analyzing both revenues and
expenditures utilizing a multitude of methods.
For example, the
issuance of accurate and timely financial statements showing performance
is critical to successful financial management and allows each item to
be traced to the source. The PAFM uses this information to evaluate what
has occurred and what changes need to be made to meet the objectives of
the financial plan.
A P&L statement (profit and loss) is one example that
can show the PAFM what the overhead is for the facility on a per-day or
even a per-event basis. Controls and safeguards with clear audit trails
must also be implemented to protect the facility’s financial integrity.
Accurate accounting is certainly important to the PAFM. Equally
important ingredients to successful financial management are the
accounting practices used and accountability. There are a number of
contracts used in a facility ranging from those made for the actual
facility user, to vendors, contracted services, service providers, etc.
Most of the contracts entered into with a typical user staging an event
will be a standard lease or license agreement with a fill-in-the-blank
format.
| "Nothing is more
important in a facility than the talent that's recruited
and hired. Therefore, it's a key responsibility of the
PAFM to retain and develop this prized asset to its fullest
potential." |
However, with other parties such as a concert promoter
or a contracted service provider, it’s not so cut and dry. Making this
type of agreement work requires the PAFM to be an experienced closer
that is erudite in negotiating skills and understanding special terms,
conditions, and benefits needed to be obtained by the parties to make
the contract work. Fees can be negotiated. However, most boilerplate
items in contracts such as insurance, indemnification, etc., should be
non-negotiable.
Further, amending policies or procedures that affect
life safety and code issues should be off limits as well. Lease
agreements should be inclusive and clearly state all that you’re
expecting the tenant to do, as well as all penalties and fees as a
result of failing to do so. Because many contracts may be renewed or
will hopefully become repeat business, the PAFM will often be dealing
with the same party repeatedly.
The successful facility manager will ascribe to a
win-win philosophy in making the deal. Once again, relationships and
leverage are the key ingredients. When the signed contract and deposit
are returned, the event management process begins. It’s in this process
that good contract management is critical in ensuring that all terms and
conditions of the contract are fully executed.
The key ingredients to successful contract management
are clear and effective communication and follow-up with the user, good
planning, compliance tracking, effective coordination and flawless
execution.
Part Two: Effective maintenance, housekeeping, security services and
more. fm
Timothy C. Mabe, CFE, CMP, CMM, is the general
manager of the Special Events Center in Garland, Texas |
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